Art Styles and What They Mean

Whether you are an artist, a spectator of art or an art collector, I am sure you have wondered at one time or another what was going through the artist's mind at the time he/she created that work of art. There are so many styles of art, but what do they mean? As an artist and painter I am always trying to educate myself and have learned not only new techniques but also what I describe as art lingo. I will go over art subjects as well as the style categories most used by artists.

For artists there are many subjects to choose from. They are all around us. I categorize these as Art Themes:

Portraiture - Posing, people or person to include self portraits

Domestic Life - Home interiors and everyday living. Some examples are: sleeping, bathing, sewing, cooking, house hold tasks etc.

Motherhood - pregnancy or Mother and Child

Still Life - Arranging and depicting of inanimate objects. Example: fruit, flowers, food, furniture, instruments and sometimes even small creatures such as birds and insects.

Landscape - Here the keyword is land. This can be of a realistic nature but is also open for the Artist's interpretation. Always using the laws of perspective the work can be life like or it can be impressionistic but always with perspective ( meaning a 3-D appearance, a near to far view, creating depth and proportion).

Rural Life - Farming, poverty

City Life - Buildings, architecture, city scape's and people

Urban Life - Store fronts, people at work etc.

Religion - Worship

Fantasy - The unlikely, make believe. Such as fairies, mermaids etc.

War - Social protest, out cast

These subjects are self explanatory - Death, Politics, Animals

The following are a list of Art Styles and what they mean:

Expressionism - Distortion of lines and color, a means of conveying heightened emotion. A few great examples are Van Gogh, Edvard Munch and James Ensor all whom expressed mental turmoil by injecting a sense of neurotic energy into their portrayal of natural forms.

Abstract * Expressionism - a radical vision of rebellion, spontaneity, improvisation as well as freedom of the individual. The use of color for emotions and distortion of the real.

Impressionism - This is the corner stone of modern art. Scenes of life around us. Landscapes, buildings, objects. The artist's impression of what he or she See's around them.

Surrealism - Fantasy art, beneath the mundane surface of reality. Tapping into humanities most fundamental dreams and desires. These can be pictures that look real but make no rational sense.

Symbolism - Simplified forms and symbolic colors to create effects.

Pop Art - called Pop Art because the subject in the painting was popular at the time. Also a 1950's art style made Famous by artist Andy Warhol.

Cubism - The break down of objects or a person into geometric shapes. As found in the famous works of Pablo Picasso.

Outsider Art Also Known as Art Brut- Often, outsider art illustrates extreme mental states, unconventional ideas or fantasy worlds. Sometimes misapplied as a catch-all marketing label for art created by people outside the mainstream art world.

Viewing art can evoke countless emotions. It arouses curiosity and can be hypnotic. Sometimes it can be complicated for the viewer to understand the Artist's perspective, but this can create many different points of view, allowing the viewers their own interpretation.

Now the next time you visit an art museum or gallery you will be better equipped to understand the art styles and what they mean.